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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Predictions!

Predictions for the final book in the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini. Be warned that they contain spoilers for the previous books.

I've provided more reasons for #4, and predictions #9 and on are new.

1) I think that Roran is a Moses figure, and that he will either a) die, or b) become king of Alagaësia and be unable to return to his former life as a farmer. Why? I explain here why I think he's a Moses figure. Also, we already know that Nasuada will die (see prediction #3) so she can't become queen, and Roran is proven to be one heck of a leader. I don't think he would want to become king, but I could see people cornering him into accepting the crown.

2) Katrina will come face to face with Galbatorix, and there will be a need for her and Roran to use the rings that Eragon gifted them with. Why? Because in Eldest she makes Roran promise "that you will never make such a request again. You must promise me that even if we faced Galbatorix himself and only one of us could escape, you would not ask me to leave" (180). This somehow looks like a foreshadowing to me. Also, if this is the case, then the rings will definitely be put to use.

3) Nasuada will die. Why? Because we already know from Angela's fortune telling that Eragon will leave Alagaësia forever...but that's something he can't do if he owes fealty to someone in Alagaësia. Therefore, Nasuada must die.

4) That in the end of the book Eragon leaves Alagaësia with a green dragon and that dragon's rider. And Roran stands on the shore screaming in despair. Or screaming in something. Why? Because of the dream Eragon had in Eragon. And I'm just guessing about the guy on the shore being Roran. Also because of two particular times that people curse Eragon. The final Ra'zac: "May you leave Alagaësia and never return!" (65) Then at the end of the book: "I curse you with all my heart! May you leave Alagaësia and never return!" (709) The second guy even uses the same wording as the Ra'zac. Oh yeah, and in Eragon Angela read the dragon bones and told Eragon that he would leave Alagaësia one day.

5) That the new green dragon hatched just outside of Ellesméra, at the Stone of Broken Eggs. Why? Because Eragon happens across "a fragment of a green dragon egg" at that location (Eldest, 449). It seems like an important detail once we know that the next dragon will be green. Besides, the new dragon won't be of much help unless they wait for it him to mature, or unless they force him to grow prematurely like Galbatorix did to Thorn. And I can't see any of the good guys doing that to a dragon.

6) That in the end it will be a matter of who has the most Eldunarí and that Eragon must find the Vault of Souls. At the Vault of Souls Eragon must speak either his own true name or the true name of the Ancient Language -- probably his own true name. Why? We already know that Eragon must find a Vault of Souls, and that the Vault of Souls will hold the Eldunarí seems most likely. We also know that Eragon must speak a name, and we know that he wants to find his own name, so he will probably find his own name, and hence it seems likely that he must speak his own name.

7) Certain persons of interest will play important parts. Why and who? This is discussed further in this post.

8) Galbatorix will come dangerously close to finding the true name of the Ancient Language. Why? The last Ra'zac tells Eragon that "He has almossst found the name" (Brisingr, 65). The Ra'zac will not, or cannot, clarify what name he's talking about, but I'm sure it's a pretty important name. Elsewhere it's said that whoever knows the name of the Ancient Language will have complete power over the speakers of that language, and since Galbatorix is sort of power hungry it seems like something he'd go after. I'm pretty sure that it's also mentioned somewhere in Brisingr that he's had a project that has kept him occupied recently, and I think that project is finding the name.

9) Eragon and Arya will get together despite their age differences. Why? Arya is relatively young for an elf...and for the rest of my reasoning I'll copy and paste from this post: We learned early in Brisingr that she was lovers with Fäolin, who was a older than her: "He was older than I, but we were kindred spirits, both curious about the world outside our forest, eager to explore and eager to strike against Galbatorix" (196). This seems like a good description of Eragon and Arya, since he manages to get a grip on himself by the end of the Brisingr and they act like good friends.

10) Eragon's true name will contain brisingr in it. Why? As Rhunön theorizes in Brisingr about the reason why Eragon's sword responds to the word brisingr, "I can think of two explanations for this marvel. One is that because you were involved with the forging, you imbued the blade with a portion of your personality and therefore it has become attuned to your wishes. My other explanation is that you have discovered the true name of your sword. Perhaps both those things are what has happened" (683). My theory is that both her ideas are correct, and that because the sword is so attuned to Eragon it contains part of his true name in its own true name. It's also a word/element that Eragon is comfortable with, and he keeps returning to it. For example, in Eragon he cast his first spell with the word. Even though he'd thought the word was merely profanity that Brom had muttered under his breath while trying to light a fire!